Ireland Around the Web: 07.03.08

Here are some Ireland items in the news lately:

  • Ireland is working on producing biofuels from seaweed.

  • A writer recalls a visit to the Royal Dublin Society, which in turn brings back memories of previous chlildhood visits.

  • The number of tourists in Ireland went up only slightly in the first quarter of 2008 as compared to last year, but the number of Irish tourists traveling outside the country grew by a whopping 8%.

  • Galway makes the list of the “best cities less traveled,” which means that it could very well be overrun with tourists by this time next year.

  • Cyclists are going to saddle up again at the end of August for the Tour of Ireland, which will begin on August 27th in Dublin.

  • Drivers beware – Dublin ranks as the 13th most congested city in Europe, according to Forbes magazine. (And Belfast is #10.)

  • A Galway man has finished a run from Mizen Head to Malin Head in less than 5.5 days – a distance of 365 miles – in a benefit for the Chernobyl Children’s Charity. He raised €50,000.

  • There’s a new book out which includes some great wild places to walk in Ireland.

  • An Irish cardinal has rebuked some of the Catholics who campaigned against the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.

  • Looks like Ireland won’t be alone in rejecting the Lisbon Treaty after all – Poland’s president says he won’t sign it.

  • But another report indicates Poland’s president says he’ll sign the Lisbon Treaty, but only if Ireland presents a new referendum to its people and it passes this time.

  • The rumor mill has it that Gwyneth Paltrow will be starring in a new film version of “King Lear,” to be shot in Ireland next year.

  • Martha Stewart visited Ireland, and has blogged about her trip. Does that make you more inclined to go, or no?

  • One of the items on this list of “10 things to do in Europe that will make you smarter” is to make a literary pub crawl in Dublin of the famous haunts of some of Ireland’s best writers.

  • One oil company would like to begin doing some offshore drilling in Ireland.

  • According to a new study listing the world’s happiest countries, Ireland ranks 6th and Northern Ireland is apparently slightly happier, coming in 5th.

  • The Bank of Ireland narrowly avoided a 24-hour strike by agreeing to give employees a bigger bonus.